If I had to describe Arkham Origins right now (after watching all the walkthroughs), I would say it's like if you glued Arkham Asylum and Arkham City together. You get a huge prison setting and a huge city setting along with a much better story than City (the relationship between Alfred and Batman is more emotional and engaging than any thing presented in AA or AC).

But since it was released after those great games, it doesn't seem quite as fresh. For example, you'll notice that a lot of the gadgets are basically rehashes of previous gadgets named something else and the puzzle mechanics are really similar. But it's still a great experience and it's a nice springboard for Rockysteady's next-generation Batman game.

I'll expand when I get to actually play the game later this week. But I'm giving it an 8.5/10 so far. Could improve to a 9 if the MP is amazing and/or the DLC surprises me. And of course it could change when I actually experience the game first hand.

I think a lot of the reviewers are over-emphasizing that Arkham Origins contains the Old Gotham of Arkham City. So they reach for the predictable "I've seen this before" observation and stop at that. But to me, it feels very different in a lot of areas.

I think it's going to take a special kind of reviewer who appreciates the Arkham series to really grade this game accurately (like Brandon Jones from Gametrailers). Because underneath the familiar locale is a very good game with solid controls and a different tone/atmosphere.

Uncharted 3 mainly avoided these "it's the same" criticisms because they physically changed the location of the setpieces. But it was still the same linear formula of Uncharted 2 with the same exact chase scenes done elsewhere. AO couldn't afford this clever disguise so it's going to be very vulnerable to this criticism.

Last edited by noxcovenant on Oct 25th, 2013, 7:40 pm, edited 1 time in total.

The way I see it, people expected more groundbreaking stuff.For instance, Arkham Asylum was "Arkham 1.0", Arkham City was "Arkham 2.0" but Arkham Origins , based on the reviews so far, is "Arkham 2.5" , not 3.0 ...Why? Not because it's a prequel, but because its puzzles, mechanics and content in general is rehashed in some areas...

Is this bad? In my opinion, no.Assasin's Creed 2 and Brotherhood and Revelations have been said to have LOTS of rehashed stuff.But the story is good, and some extra content keeps it fresh.That's the case with Arkham Origins.It's not entirely fresh, but still amazing.(This method also links the games together and it makes them more coherent, and easier in transition from the one to the next.)

Also, I feel that people would be so upset if WB actually delivered the above mentioned "Arkham 3.0".They would shout again and again "It's a prequel, this stuff is way too advanced for a prequel !". In other words, most of the people who say AO is "rehashed stuff" would also argue heavily that AO introduced too much groundbreaking stuff, more than a prequel would normally do.

That's all my speculation, of course, but I believe we are better off with AO in its current form.It seems like an amazing game overall.

Well well, feels like I've been away from this place for months, even though it's only been a week.

Just been playing Origins on and off for the past 24 hours, I've completed the story but haven't completed all the side missions yet, I've barely put any effort into the Enigma side mission, and I'm sure I've still got one or two more character profiles to unlock.

Anyway, here's my review, don't read if you haven't completed the story yet.

Gameplay: With both combat and predator being left untouched from City, the gameplay still remains flawless in these aspects, Batman is still able to kick ass and take down thugs quite naturally, using the Batwing to fast travel from Old to New Gotham was a treat as well with the place being twice the size of City, new gadgets worked well and were given plenty of scenarios to use them in, however, I'm not sure if it was just me but I felt like the grapple hook felt more limited this time around, though I suppose it makes sense with Batman being in his early days and there's a giant snow storm bigger than Miley Cyrus tongue he has to put up with. The story was a decent amount of length, however, the side missions, when compared to City are very disappointing to me, I know I haven't complated all of them yet, but a lot of them seem to be "go to this place, beat up thugs, rinse, repeat." maybe there's more to come. The gameplay also manages to vary itself quite a bit, especially when it came to the boss fights, the Mad Hatter side mission, playing as Joker in his psyche and the new type of thugs you have to put up with as well. All in all, gameplay is very good.

It had it's good points and bad points, good points being it felt very much like a Batman story, there were a couple of interesting plot twists, bad guys working for and against each other, drama with Alfred, the start of the relationships with characters like Joker and Gordon, we see Babs for the first time and we have Dr. Harleens first meeting with Joker in Blackgate (even though her first meeting with Joker would have been at the Asylum, according to her Arkham Asylum interview tape, but I suppose I'd just be nitpicking). However, we have the bad points, such as Black Mask was hardly in it at all, he wasn't the big mastermind, and I really was looking forward to having a big showdown with him towards the end. I did like the plot twist, but after months of leading up to the game, with Black Masks menacing voice ordering he wants the Bat dead I became accustomed to the idea of him and was looking forward to it, if I ordered pizza at a restaurant but was given a burger instead, I'd still quite happily eat the burger but at the same time I would be thinking how delicious that pizza could have been.

This is kind of similar to the Black Mask/Joker twist, in that we were promised 8 assassin's on the hunt to have your head and it's like half of them had more important things to do, Croc was a decent first boss fight in my opinion and it did feel quite menacing when he was trying to take a bite out of me like I was a chicken that had just been put through the peri peri car wash, and it did it's job well and served what was going to come. Deathstroke was excellent, made the player really concentrate and feel the game, top notch. Copperhead too, forcing Bats to deal with his demons. Electrocutioner just felt like he was there so Batman could steal his gloves. Shiva wanted to "test" you, which I should've seen coming I suppose, I wonder how she managed to get a recording of a baby crying, did she steal some candy away from one whilst holding a tape recorder to it's babyface? As for Bane, he really scared the crap out of me on the final boss fight, especially when it was quite tricky to control the camera angle, although this game really did do Bane justice after Asylum and City and gave a reasonable explanation as to why he appears to have the intelligence of a cast member of The Only Way Is Essex in the previous games. All in all, some good, some bad.

Overall:A great game, with a good story, awesome gameplay, however let down a little by a slightly disappointing plot. However, when compared to Rocksteady's two Arkham babies, it seems to lack that certain magic, Asylum and City feel more fleshed out to me, even though Origins is the size of Scarbrough Asylum and City feel like they have more detail, more atmosphere and much more depth, maybe I still have more to come in my exploration or Origins but I feel a little bit disappointed in that department. WB Montreal have done a great job, and have made an above average game, it may not be on the level of Rocksteady, but that's Rocksteady after all.

7.2/10

Last edited by Benji on Oct 27th, 2013, 3:20 pm, edited 2 times in total.

Storms come and go. The big fish eat the little fish and I keep on paddling.

Since I have beaten the game I guess I will say somethings what I think.

Story: Not bad, well for WB Montreal. I think the story is a tiny bit disappointing from the other Arkham games. I beat the main story earlier than I thought I was going to. The story does keep you interested (well it did for me) I can't say much of my thoughts because I would spoil it but.. I have to say this about it

Once again Joker steals the show. Black Mask is not the main villain he gets shut out as soon as you find out Joker was the one that hired the assassins and did everything.

Multiplayer: A little addition that some people hate and like. I find it actually kind of enjoyable when you play as Batman and Robin because I feel overpowered and also I feel overpowered playing as Joker . Anyways its not perfect but it is something to play.

Overall: Batman Arkham Origins is a game that has its flaws but it is still a very good game.I am going to be nice and give this game a 9/10

Beginning with a dark and gloomy shot of bats clinging to a roof, we're thrust straight into the action of Batman: Arkham Origins as Bruce Wayne descends in an elevator into the well known Batcave. There's trouble on Christmas Eve as Black Mask terrorises Blackgate Prison. Bruce suits up, Alfred watching woefully from the side, as Batman now steps away climbing into the Batwing and launching off into the night.

It's an exciting and memorable opening for fans as it's the first time we've seen the Batcave in an Arkham game. Warner Bros. Montreal takes over for this latest entry in the franchise after Arkham Asylum and Arkham City produced by Rocksteady. Straight away in the opening moments of the game you can see that WBM have adopted Rocksteady's baby and handle it well. The iconic Freeflow and Predator Combat of the previous Arkham games remains completely intact. It's a combat system that has been close to perfect right from the very beginning in Arkham Asylum and fans will jump back comfortably into Batman's shoes. Navigation hasn't changed. Running, jumping, gliding and the Grapnel Accelerator have all been retained and function just as well as they have in previous games. In terms of the core gameplay, it feels and plays like any of it's predecessors. No need to fix what isn't broken. A new addition to navigation, though, is the ability to unlock Fast Travel markers across the significantly larger map. It's a seemingly minor addition, but very welcome on a map this size.

After the opening sequence in Blackgate Prison we're introduced to the main plot of the story. Batman is being hunted. Black Mask has hired 8 of the world's best assassin's for a one night only shot at claiming a $50 Million bounty on Batman. This is just the beginning of the night for Batman though as the plot thickens as Batman pursues his targets.

The story is most certainly the highlight of this entry in the Arkham series. Exceptionally well written and the story keeps rolling forward at a brisk pace as Batman crosses the likes of Penguin, Jim Gordon and the GCPD, Black Mask, Deathstroke, Bane and eventually Joker. Make no mistake, this is a Batman-Joker story and I feel that it works great in context with Asylum and City. It's a true origin story. The first meeting of Batman and the Joker. Black Mask and the Assassins are simply the catalyst that puts these two on a crash course with each other on this particular night. As an overarching story, if Asylum was the middle and City the end of Batman and Joker's story, then Origins serves perfectly as the beginning. We see a Batman who is raw, less refined, more brutish and someone the GCPD hunts down like any other criminal. Watching him evolve throughout the story as he forms familiar relationships gives more insight to the experiences that lead Batman to become the well refined crimefighter we see in Asylum. The same is said of Joker. He's far more unwound, violent and brutal than his previous incarnations.

Roger Craig Smith and Troy Baker take over the roles of Batman and Joker respectively and they fill the shoes of their predecessors exceptionally well. Baker especially puts in the biggest highlight performance of the game and steals the scene every time he's on screen.

The relationships formed throughout the story are some the best moments in the Arkham series. The relationship between Bruce Wayne and Alfred Pennyworth in particular. Friends at heart, but with largely differing opinions of Bruce's methods. Especially when Bruce's enemies thus far in his early years have been common street thugs. Never has Bruce faced down the world's best assassins or anyone that would ever pose as much a threat to him. Bruce's resolve and capabilities are truly put to the test.

This is where Origins excels in delivering fresh new boss battles. The villain encounters in this game are some of the best in the series and after three games it really feels as if the developers have found a handle on creating memorable encounters. Testing Batman's various Freeflow Combat and Predatory skills, every villain offers a different challenge. Bane is a brute force enemy that requires careful evasion and putting stuns, beatdowns and takedowns to use; Copperhead tests your large crowd control skills and general skills; while a villain like Deadshot tests your Predatory skills. Having found different and unique methods to craft their boss battles in Arkham City with the likes of Mr. Freeze, Origins is able to build on that foundation again and craft some memorable and fun encounters.

A big part of Batman has always been his gadgets and in Origins nothing is lost from previous games. All of Batman's previous tools return, but to retain story continuity some items have been renamed or restructured. The Jammer is now a Disruptor and instead of looking like a small trigger, it appears like a larger gun; the Glue Grenade substitutes for the Ice Grenade; and the new Remote Claw is the spiritual replacement for Batman's Line Launcher with a few new features. The newest addition to Batman's belt are the Shock Gloves. Used for powering Electrical Conduits in puzzle solving situations, they serve as a significant power boost for Batman in combat. As you fight you'll build up energy to activate the gauntlets. Batman's strength is amplified and armoured, riot shield and stun baton enemies no longer pose a serious threat as you can just punch through them.

In hindsight, the Remote Claw can seem like an overpowered tool for use in Predator situations while the Shock Gloves can appear overpowered in Freeflow Combat situations. They can quite simply make life easier and Batman a great deal more powerful. Some might feel they take some of the challenge out of both situations, but no one's forcing you to use them. Others may feel the reuse of certain gadgets may feel like a cheap way out creatively. Particularly in the instance of the Glue Grenade and Disruptor. There are some parts of Origins that just feels reused from City. While there's certainly a whole bevy of new thugs and enemy types, it struck me funny when I was attack by a group of Ninjas, all of which were the exact same character model as Talia's Elite Guard from Arkham City with some different colouring on them. It's minor, but it still feels cheap in that regard.

What isn't a cheap copy, though, is the newly expanded map. North and South Gotham provide a massive playground for Batman to roam around in. While part of the map is the same map we previously had in Arkham City, time has been rewound and we get a look at how the city looked long before it was walled off and turned into a super prison. So much of it seems different that while some iconic locations are retained, other locations feel completely new. It makes the whole map feel like a whole new playground. Populated largely by criminals prowling the streets late at night, as well as the cops that chase them, the city is largely devoid of a civilian population. Seemingly strange, but well handled. Simple things like cars abandoned in the streets, the severity of the snowstorm, hearing a crying baby inside a building or even as simple as a PA Announcement from the GCPD enforcing that all citizens stay inside due to the conditions, makes the city feel populated. Though, regardless of these things, it still just feels very empty at times when the only people you've got wandering the streets are cops and criminals.

Another new improvement to the series has been the Crime Scene Investigation. Building off of some minor instances in Arkham City that may have had you scan something in the environment to reveal the trajectory of a bullet, these expanded sequences build upon and highlight Batman's skills as a detective. Relatively simple and lacking in challenge, it's largely a guided walk through a crime scene picking out points of interest and reconstructing a crime. Some instances will have you scrubbing through the footage to help you find the next point of interest, but they're obvious and plainly marker. Might've been more interesting to not mark these points of interest so obviously to add that challenge for the player to find them themselves. It's a great new addition and something well worth expanding on in future entries. As stated, it really highlights Batman's skills as a detective and piecing together the events of a crime can be satisfying. None are as truly satisfying as the first Crime Scene in Lacey Towers, but it's a great direction for the future.

A staple of the series has always been the Riddler, his trophies, challenges and his riddles. Riddler returns in a manner of speaking as Enigma, Riddler in his early days. I applaud WBM for their logical consideration that Enigma, pre-Riddler, is not going to be leaving Riddles and Trophies lying around all over the city. Instead we're faced with Comm Towers that serve as part of Enigma's plot and help to unlock the fast travel points around the City. There are also Datapacks, replacements for the Riddler trophies, that provide information on people Enigma plans on extorting. It's a suitable replacement for the Riddler Trophies of the previous games. In the same collectable category, players will find buildings marked with Anarky's tag. Scanning these tags will provide background information on these iconic locations.

Now, not everything in this game is rainbows and butterflies. I can easily say that the overall fantastic gameplay, which hasn't changed largely since Arkham Asylum, and the exceptionally well told story make Arkham Origins an equal to it's predecessors. What hurts the title, though, is a bevy of technical issues that hamper gameplay. As convenient as Fast Travel is, I find it hurts the game. Audio is often out of sync during the Fast Travel animation, and the processing load it places on the system afterwards leads to heavy lag that gets to a point of unplayability. This is fixed by quitting the game and getting back into it, but Fast Travel should be a convenience and not something players want to avoid out of fear that the game will start lagging. Some textures take quite some time to load and some audio winds up out of sync or occassionally loops over the top of the next piece of audio (this happens occassionally during in-game cutscenes). Then there's just the odd random glitch here and there. All of this is stuff that certainly can, and should, be patched within the opening weeks of the game's release, but a title like this shouldn't be experiencing these kinds of issues at launch. They may seem minor in some regard (Skyrim face similar issues, particularly on the PS3) but it feels like it lacks a standard of polish set by Asylum and City.

Finally there's the multiplayer, undoubtedly Origins biggest contribution to the series. Shipping with only 4 maps and 1 mode, there definitely appears to be room for expansion through DLC and I think that's exactly what is intended for Origins. In Invisible Predator Online there are three teams. Bane's Mercenaries, Joker's Thugs and the Heroes. Two players are chosen by roulette spin to take on the roles of the heroes, Batman and Robin, cleverly designed in a way that no previous player who has played as the heroes in a lobby can play the heroes again until everyone has had a turn. Everyone else forms two teams of three. The thug teams fight for control over three points on a map, slowly draining each other of reinforcements until the other team is completely wiped out. At the same time, the heroes stalk them trying to earn enough intimidation to prevent either team from winning. It's well thought out and a great addition to the series for players who enjoy getting together with friends for some online play. Heroes' predatory skills will be put to the test and thugs will have to fight a war on two fronts. It's simple and it's fun.

*

Overall, Batman: Arkham Origins is another fantastic entry in the Batman: Arkham franchise. It's gameplay remains as strong as ever and the story is one of the strongest in the series. It's easily deserving to be considered an equal to it's predecessors, but where it loses out is in it's technical faults that, fingers crossed, will hopefully be fixed to improve overall performance.

How do you top the greatness of Arkham City? You can't... well, WBM haven't done so with Origins. Instead we're treated with a game that feels more like DLC for Arkham City.

One night, 8 assassins, Chaka mad. The Christmas ham will have to wait, as Batman takes down an uninspired lineup of villains, in what are mostly boring boss battles. I only ended up enjoying 3 bosses from Origins. Which is even more frustrating due to WBM promising battles inspired by the Mr Freeze from City.

The story was a mess, the payoff leaving me unimpressed and wishing WBM had done something new instead of borrowing heavily from the previous instalments. Even the credits were a blatant ripoff of Rocksteady's work. Literally no originality storywise.

And then there's multiplayer... Oh yes, this is good. Easily the most enjoyable part of Origins and something I've been wanting to see in the series.

Overall: I had my doubts when I heard a new developer was taking on Arkham... and unfortunately I was right to doubt. WBM have created a very average game. While Multiplayer is really fun, story mode is uninspired and boring for the most part. And if not for my love of Batman and the Arkhamverse... my score would be a lot lower.7.5/10

I won't (can't coz I'm shit at wording things) do a long review of my personal play through but I'll list pros and cons. Spoilers ahead!

Pros

-Man! Hell of a story! Surely the best story out of all 3 games.-Gotham. We told em what we wanted and they delivered with the main island of Gotham.-Batcave and Alfred! -Bane was done right. I honestly felt threatened by him and at one point actually thought he was gonna break Batmans back. Though questions have to be raised now. Does Bane break Batmans back in the Arkhamverse? If so it means Bane finding out who Batman is (again).

Cons

I have but 1 major con...

Gotham. Yes we got what we wanted but was it needed? (Of course if you think about where certain parts of the story took place yes) but I don't think it was. Don't get me wrong it was amazing to explore but it did feel a tad empty and I put it down to the fact that....we had the same amount of everything compared to Arkham City but spread out over this large map. That's why it feels empty to me. The story could have been told over one of the islands.

Indifferent

Combat etc I didn't expect any major changes from AA or AC coz well why fix something that ain't broke? Same applies to this copy and paste nonsense. Did it feel like we were fighting Talias elite guard? Sure, but shiva is part of the LOA. Glue gun? Why would he have a freeze gun when freeze maybe isnt freeze yet? You get what I mean. Also riddles? Etc yes I know he isn't the riddler yet but the riddles and the trophies filled in the more lonely parts of the AC map and made it feel alive....something that was missing in Origins. What bugged me a bit was the fact WBM bigged up character development and even though it does happen in the game I feel as if they sold us short on that one.

I genuinely Loved the story was brilliant it really is my favorite Batman and Joker's first encounter story and right up there with Dark Victory and R.I.P as my favorite Batman stories ever. The combat while not different from AO has some new additions that I appreciate like The Enforcers and Martial Artist also it feels a bit harder than AA and AC. The gameplay in general is excellent and this time more than ever I feel like Batman things like The Casefile Reports and crime scene investigation really add to that feeling. The MP while not groundbreaking is really fun to play and that's all I asked for. The only things I want in the next Arkham Game that will make things even better are : - Co-op- More Batfamily Characters - Even More Side Missions- More Modes in MP

But this game on it's own is fantastic and even beats AC as my favorite Superhero game.My Score : 10/10

Obviously my review will be filled with spoilers, so be warned. I'm not putting them in spoiler tabs.

Okay, so I've finally played enough of the game to give a proper rating. The only thing I haven't done yet is NG+, I am the Night, and 100% completion. The game is amazing. They story is very gripping, and some of these characters are very well written. I'm just going to write tons of pros and cons because I don't want to spend my whole night writing a review.

Pros:-The voice acting-The Enigma sidemission (Not as good as AA, but far better than AC. It felt repetative in AC. Origins had varied puzzles, unlike city where most of them were similar)-Bane was awesome in this game.-The boss fights.-The story-The new upgrades and gadgets.-The multiplayer-The relationships between Batman and Joker and Batman and Alfred.-The graphics.

Cons:-Some small glitches, like the frame rate dropping.-The sidemissions are uninspired and we've already done them in AC. The good ones were too short, such as Mad Hatter and Deadshot-Assassins didn't get enough screentime. You'd think someone like Deathstroke would appear a lot throughout the game because of all the hype he had, but no.

Overall, Arkham Origins is an excellent game and I'm happy it was released. I'd give it a 9/10. I plan on getting Arkham Origins: Blackgate when I pay off my ps4.